Having record average temperatures is consistent with the general picture of the climate warming in the UK and globally, the Met Office said.

A spokeswoman told BBC News: “It’s generally accepted that the risk of heatwaves is increasing due to global warming.

“The temperature has risen, since industrial times, by one degree overall, so we’re starting from a degree higher. So the peaks in these heatwaves are going to be a little bit higher as well.”

Analysis by Matt McGrath, BBC News environment correspondent

The immediate cause of this year’s extended warm weather was the meandering jet stream taking a more northerly track over the UK, creating an area of high pressure over Britain which did not shift for weeks.

But many scientists are also asking about the role of climate change in “loading the dice” and making a heatwave more likely, when an event like the wandering jet stream occurs.